Weight Limits: The Death of LATCH?

It’s a pair of metal anchors located in the seat bight, plus a top tether anchor located somewhere behind the vehicle seat. Combined, these anchors were to make installation of carseats much easier than using seatbelts. With me so far?

Problem is, at least in the USA, we made a lot of concessions to automobile and child restraint manufacturers when the system was implemented. For example, the anchors are often hard to find or access. Also, rigid LATCH isn’t required, as it is with ISOFIX in Europe. Center and third row seating positions may not have anchors at all. High weight limit seats are not considered. This last issue has become a big problem, due to the rapid proliferation in carseats with 5-point harnesses now rated above 40 pounds in the USA and *Canada.

The rules, many of which are unwritten for the typical parent, are so absolutely crazy that certified child passenger safety technicians need a 200-page reference manual to help understand it. The average parent or caregiver? They don’t even know about the rules or manual in the first place! Thus, misuse happens. It’s no wonder that parents who do know about it are so confused, they simply choose not to deal with it.http://www.moviesoundclips.net/movies1/princessbride/explain.mp3

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up: In 2014, new federal standards, subject to petitions of the final rule, will require carseats to have another label. This label will limit the use of lower anchors to a maximum weight for a child. This child’s weight limit printed on each carseat, plus the weight of the carseat, must be 65 pounds combined, or less. Thus, for any child seat that weighs over 25 pounds, it cannot be used with the lower anchors once the child is above 40 pounds (or less). Clear as mud?

Adding to the confusion, these new federal requirements do not directly affect top tether anchors, the other component of LATCH. Nonetheless, many automobile manufacturers are still currently limiting top tether anchor use to the same combined 65-pound [child plus carseat] weight, even when a seatbelt is used for installation. A few still limit use to a 40- or 48-pound child weight. That means that if you own any of these automobile makes (and you may need that 200-page manual to know which ones!), you should no longer use the top tether above this limit. Still following me?

Of course, it is the tall and heavy kids that need top tethers the most in order to reduce head excursion, the source of severe head injury risk! So, this is a major conflict in what we know about crash dynamics and something that could put older kids at risk. All this leads to the following questions:

Q: Weight limits, really? Is LATCH so unsafe that it has such low weight limits? Is it even safe near the limits?

A: Fair points. I’ve seen no data indicating that overloaded anchors are resulting in severe injuries. If they do become unsafe at some weight, it’s not clear what weight that is or if the known benefits outweigh unknown risks. Low limits may indeed cause parents to question the integrity of the system. Lacking any public data, these limits may seem arbitrary. Regardless, parents should follow the ratings on the labels of their carseat and in their owners manuals, if any. This often leads to confusion when published limits can’t be found or if they conflict with each other. Unfortunately, CarseatBlog is placed in a position where this is the best answer we can give to parents.

Q: If I keep my kid rear-facing to 2 years and beyond, is it even worthwhile to use LATCH forward-facing for the limited time they will remain under the LATCH weight limit?

A: Probably not. If you transition a child to a forward-facing seat after 2-years of age as recommended, a seatbelt installation is probably the best choice now, unless you cannot get a secure fitment for some reason. The lower anchors are a suitable backup method for forward-facing seats used below the anchor limits. Unless, of course, you’re installing in a center seating position, where you need that 200-page manual to know if you can even use lower anchors there!

Q: I know I can use a seatbelt instead of lower anchors, but I’ve been told top tethers are a vital safety feature. Are top tethers no longer safe, either? If not, what is the alternative?

A: There is no conventional alternative to a top-tether for use with a 5-point internal harness. Personally, I would not want my own 7-year-old son, who is nearly 60 pounds, to ride in a 5-point harness without a top tether. Unfortunately, as a certified technician, I cannot advise other parents to use a top tether beyond any published or default weight limits. There are always exceptions, but it appears we are being forced to recommend that most children above 4-years and 40 pounds, who cannot use a forward-facing internal 5-point harness along with the top tether for any reason, probably should be transitioned to belt-positioning boosters using a 3-point lap/shoulder belt.

Low top-tether limits effectively contradict the AAP guidelines for toddlers and preschoolers that recommends, “All children 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car seat, should use a Forward-Facing Car Seatwith a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed their car seat’s manufacturer.” That’s a big rock and a very hard place that parents and technicians have been put between!

Q: What good will LATCH be, anyway?

A: Lower anchors remain a good option for most infant and rear-facing seats. They are also popular for securing some belt-positioning boosters into vehicles, since boosters do not have the same LATCH weight limits as 5-point harnesses. That is because it is the seatbelt that restrains the booster child directly, rather than the internal harness.

Q: Aren’t all the companies who invested a lot of R&D into rigid LATCH and other cool LATCH systems going to be burned by this? If LATCH is not very useful for forward-facing seats with a harness, why require LATCH at all?

A: Good questions! I suspect there won’t be much LATCH innovation in the future, with the possible exception of rear-facing only seats. And, yes, it would be simpler for everyone if LATCH was required just on rear-facing only seats, given the 2014 labeling. This would also save cost and weight on forward-facing seats, where LATCH will now have limited benefit. It would be simplest for parents to to know that LATCH could be used to the maximum weight rating of any carseat. Actually, parents wouldn’t even have to know this, because it would be common sense.

This was the promise of LATCH a decade ago:

Today, we have insanity. The system implemented over a decade ago in order to make carseat installations much easier has actually become far more complex than using a seatbelt. The lack of cooperation and action among manufacturers, regulators and major organizations has left us with such a mess that it’s not even clear why we really need LATCH at all. Personally, I was a big supporter of LATCH when it was introduced over a decade ago, after my first child was born. Hopefully, it can live up to its promise in another decade. For now, perhaps the best guidance on the topic is this: Use a seatbelt!

Did you know? If you own a select Chrylser vehicle or other vehicles with a 65-pound combined limit, you must discontinue rear-facing use of LATCH around 32 pounds for theGraco Smart Seat or about 29 pounds for the Clek Foonf. By 2014, that means many kids will never be able to use the great rigid LATCH system on the Foonf, because they will be above the mandated weight limit once they turn forward facing after 2-years old. 🙁

*Please note that top tether use is required in Canada, as they have different requirements than in the USA.

My daughter is 5, weighs 37 lbs, and is still in a 5 point harnes. I use all 3 (latch, seatbelt, and tether). I’m hearing I should not use the latch. Why? I can’t find anywhere that it states to not use both. What’s the harm with extra safety?

Linda pinkhamJune 21, 2015

That is my question what is the harm? And I can’t find where it say NOT TO USE both myself. My daughter seen my son placing his newborn in the car. He puts the carseat into the base ( which was installed using the latch system) then he puts the shoulder belt across the carseat ( note he places it the same way if you did not have a base for it) just for the fact he don’t like the idea of the carseat just snaps into the base so he wonders if it would unsnap if car flip.) But my daughter was like why you doing that that isn’t right I ask what is wrong with it she said well I wouldn’t do it. I have been googling since yesterday and can not find where is say NOT TO DO IT THIS WAY. But also can find where it says you can. My question is with the carseat just snapping into the base really safe. I mean seems things happen looks like to me it is possible that the carseat can unlatch it self from the base so the lap or shoulder belt is just a extra safety support

This is consistent with the information they published in the LATCH Manual for Child Passenger Safety Technicians. Unless your vehicle owner’s manual says something else, I think you should be fine using the top tether all the way up to the rated limit of your Pinnacle 90 when installed with the seatbelt Click Tight system in your Subaru.

CarolMarch 11, 2014

Thank you for your response CPS Darren. I did notice that Subaru was listed in your article as one of the car makers deferring to the weight limits suggested by the CR manufacturer, but when I clicked on the link for the National Child Passenger Safety Board that was included in your article, Subaru was not on their official list. There is no reference in my Owner’s Manual, and I cannot find any specific information on the Internet regarding Subaru. Like other parents/grandparents, I am presently frustrated by the lack of specific information that I need before deciding which toddler/booster seat to purchase. I am waiting for a reply from Subaru regarding the TT weight limit.

CarolMarch 10, 2014

After doing a great deal of research, I decided that the Britex Pinnacle 90 toddler to booster car seat was a good choice for my 4-year old grandson. Just about everything I read encouraged using the 5-pt harness as long as possible, and this product not only has higher weight limits for the 5-pt harness, but it also has the “click-tight” installation using the car’s lap belt (I knew there was an “issue” with maximum weight on lower LATCH systems, so this seems like a very innovative solution to that problem). All the info videos for this product show use of the TT, making for a secure, tight installation.

Now that I have read through the comments here, I’m questioning whether this is a good choice if I can’t use the TT at all. Is putting my grandson into a toddler-booster using the lap/shoulder seat belt the “best” way to go.

The only real technical discussion in here is from snowbird25ca. The real question is why don’t the car companies and the NHTSA and other industry bodies simply redesign the system for higher weights?

In all likelihood, the system is over designed anyway. A quick analysis based on the size of the anchors, the tether latch, and an average steel tensile strength shows that they are good for about 60g, which is well above the required 25g (from crash test requirements I’ve seen), and even airline seats only have to be good to 16g. So the margin of safety is pretty high, especially as the design limits already include margins of safety.

A 50% increase in load capacity isn’t even that hard to accomplish anyway.

Hello Dave, and thank you for your comments. The most likely reason is that changes in federal standards take forever due to politics. It’s much easier to require a new label that costs carseat manufacturers a little money than to require improved hardware in automobiles that would cost much more. The automobile manufacturer’s lobby is very powerful and is always involved in issues like this one. It’s much easier for them to shift the responsibility to someone else, namely the carseat makers.

Erica, the answer is that many didn’t survive. 40 years ago, the number of child fatalities from motor vehicle crashes were more than double the number today. Consider that there are so many more vehicles on the road today, so many more miles traveled each year now and more children riding in cars compared to decades ago, and those statistics are even more impressive. Better carseats, safer vehicles and better education for parents has saved the lives of thousands of children since then. Those who died from being unrestrained or improperly restrained simply aren’t around to talk about it:-( We also turned our first son forward facing right at 1 year old. He may have survived a serious crash, but he’d have had a better chance if he had been kept rear-facing!

How did people survive not that long ago with out all the car seat stuff. I mean really think about it. Yes thing have changed over the years and what not and yes I kept my daughter year facing as long as possible. My son is very large and is 5. Weighing in at a whopping 50lbs and almost as tall as mom, only shorter then me by about a head and I am 5’8″. He used his infant seat for less then 3mo and he was only rear facing till about 6mo old. He has been in a booster seat since 1.5yr old because of his height. He was a whopping 8lbs 10 oz and 23.5 in at birth and has always been off the charts for height. His daddy is 6’4″.

Hi Brad, your frustrations are our frustrations. If the lower anchors are as dangerous above an unspecified weight as some advocacy organizations seem to imply, then you’d think the auto makers would indeed have warnings on the anchor and in the manuals. It’s rather mystifying! The issue with Honda is similar in the USA. For example, in that THIRD PARTY manual, they quote Honda as giving an extremely conservative 40 pound limit. In fact, after consulting with a representative from Honda’s regulatory department, their official stance is to defer to the child seat manufacturer for lower anchor limits. This is why no such limit appears in their manuals. Unfortunately, when asked for something to include for print in that same THIRD PARTY manual, they opted to use a conservative 40 pound value for publication, because books last a long time and there was a concern that in the future we could see carseats rated to 80, 90, 100 pound or more and at SOME point, there is indeed a limit! In general, it is not acceptable to use both LATCH and seatbelt simultaneously. There are exceptions, as some manufacturers are reconsidering this restriction. Clek is a notable example who will be allowing both systems to be used at the same time, so that their clever rigid LATCH system will still provide extended use on the Foonf!

BradAugust 15, 2013

I just got off the phone with Honda Canada. Although there is no LATCH weight limit in our 2012 Odyssey manual they told me that the child seat’s ratings are to be used. Although the rigid LATCH seems convenient I don’t think it holds the child seat in the vehicle seat as securely as a belted LATCH. Do the ratings mentioned in the article refer to solid LATCH only or LATCH in general? Ratings for the vehicle are not readily available so we need to rely on the restraint’s info. If the auto manufacturer had concerns about overloading the anchors they would (or should) have put capacities in the owner’s manual; I don’t think they would have a leg to stand on when they later say “If you read about our anchor capacities in this THIRD PARTY manual…”. Just to be safe, my son is just reaching 40lbs, I give the LATCH/TT/Seat belt combo install the thumbs up.

parisJuly 13, 2013

Thank you for reminding us of the weight limit. I’ll find out how much the child seats weight on my vehicles.

My husband has always used both LATCH & 1 seatbelt (no should belt in the middle seat). Is that safe/acceptable? (my child weighs <30 lbs).

EveJuly 9, 2013

Well, one possible benefit is that it could encourage manufacturers to put rigid LATCH on rear facing only seats and encourage longer rear facing. Is that what European seats are like?

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